Covid positive 8 days before cruise

[acecase2021]

 

Hope someone can advise as want to get an idea of potential options before calling MSC. Four of us meant to cruise in 8 days, unfortunately we are all affected by Covid. Do you think we will be able to move the cruise? I don't think we would be allowed to embark even if all our PCRs and lateral flows are negative as we've all been exposed within the last 14 days.

 

- I swabbed positive today, 8 days before the cruise, but with a very very faint line on lateral flow test, mild symptoms. 

 

- Husband positive on lateral flow 15 days before cruise, still swabbing positive 8 days before cruise, still a strong line on lateral flow test, mild symptoms. 

 

- Mum positive 17 days before the cruise and has swabbaed negative since 12 days before cruise, mild symptoms. 

 

- Dad has swabbed negative the whole time but was exposed to mum's Covid at 14, 13 and 12 days before cruise, no symptoms. 

 

If we move the cruise then when should we move it to? 

 

I'm thinking 14 days after the people who were positive received their first positive lateral flow, and for my dad 14 days after my mum was negative. This logic would mean we could rebook on 15/2, one week later. 

[adam7392]

We fly to Dubai in 11 days and have our PCR test in 10 days.  We both had covid over Xmas/New Year and therefore potentially our PCR test may come out positive.  If I was you I'd look to delay as long as possible if your destination and/or the cruise line require a PCR.

[FrostyJoe]

19 minutes ago, acecase2021 said:

 

Hope someone can advise as want to get an idea of potential options before calling MSC. Four of us meant to cruise in 8 days, unfortunately we are all affected by Covid. Do you think we will be able to move the cruise? I don't think we would be allowed to embark even if all our PCRs and lateral flows are negative as we've all been exposed within the last 14 days.

 

- I swabbed positive today, 8 days before the cruise, but with a very very faint line on lateral flow test, mild symptoms. 

 

- Husband positive on lateral flow 15 days before cruise, still swabbing positive 8 days before cruise, still a strong line on lateral flow test, mild symptoms. 

 

- Mum positive 17 days before the cruise and has swabbaed negative since 12 days before cruise, mild symptoms. 

 

- Dad has swabbed negative the whole time but was exposed to mum's Covid at 14, 13 and 12 days before cruise, no symptoms. 

 

If we move the cruise then when should we move it to? 

 

I'm thinking 14 days after the people who were positive received their first positive lateral flow, and for my dad 14 days after my mum was negative. This logic would mean we could rebook on 15/2, one week later. 

Not a medical advise since I'm not qualified to give it but:

If you're cruising from where MSC requires a pre-board PCR test (vs. antigen), then the absolute minimum I would push out is 4 weeks after last person in your party tested positive.  PCR can and does show a positive even after your body has neutralized the virus if your body has enough of the neutralized virus still in body for the test to detect--there are rare cases of folks testing positive for 6+ months after (which seems to be the exception and not the norm)--but it appears from what I've read that most get negatives on PCR about a month out or week or so before a month.

 

If you're cruising out of where you only need an antigen, if you've been vaccinated you're likely going to test negative 3-10 days out of initial positive antigen test.  I can't possibly imagine a positive on an antigen even with no vaccine a month plus out after initial positive test.

Edited January 31, 2022 by FrostyJoe

[acecase2021]

Thanks for the advice re PCR. We are a little concerned about this element so makes sense to push the date a bit.

 

For the seasoned cruisers, do you think MSC will actually let us move the cruise (hopefully without charges) or will they will force us to cancel it and then tell us to claim from our travel insurance? We would definitely prefer just to move it. 

 

There's a part of me that's a little annoyed because in all likelihood we will all be clear and testing negative on our booked embarkation day, but we need to do the right thing and follow the rules re the 14 day contact with Covid questions on the healthcare declaration form and that would mean them denying us boarding. 

[FrostyJoe]

28 minutes ago, acecase2021 said:

Thanks for the advice re PCR. We are a little concerned about this element so makes sense to push the date a bit.

 

For the seasoned cruisers, do you think MSC will actually let us move the cruise (hopefully without charges) or will they will force us to cancel it and then tell us to claim from our travel insurance? We would definitely prefer just to move it. 

 

There's a part of me that's a little annoyed because in all likelihood we will all be clear and testing negative on our booked embarkation day, but we need to do the right thing and follow the rules re the 14 day contact with Covid questions on the healthcare declaration form and that would mean them denying us boarding. 

I would absolutely not test one or near your original date of embarkation if you decide to push the cruise out. Or you may be hitting ur self on the wall several times. 
 

not encouraging anyone to lie of course. But I do wonder how they can offer healthcare discounts to folks in front line of Covid and expect them to board any of them if they’re truly being honest with themselves. 
 

also, if I’m in a grocery for 15 min plus and folks are not wearing masks, I might have had close contact. 
 

this one also gets me: “Have you travelled with a person diagnosed with COVID-19 in any kind of conveyance?”. Does this mean if they were to follow their own policies, that they’ll deny boarding on B2B folks if there was anyone who were positive on the first sailing? Or if they mark “no” deny boarding for lying on the form?

 

I think these forms had more value when Covid wasn’t as prevalent as now. In reality, anytime I walk outside the house I now assume anyone I come near are suspect Covid positives…

 

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by FrostyJoe

[blueslily]

29 minutes ago, acecase2021 said:

Thanks for the advice re PCR. We are a little concerned about this element so makes sense to push the date a bit.

 

For the seasoned cruisers, do you think MSC will actually let us move the cruise (hopefully without charges) or will they will force us to cancel it and then tell us to claim from our travel insurance? We would definitely prefer just to move it. 

 

There's a part of me that's a little annoyed because in all likelihood we will all be clear and testing negative on our booked embarkation day, but we need to do the right thing and follow the rules re the 14 day contact with Covid questions on the healthcare declaration form and that would mean them denying us boarding. 

 

I would be honest about the 8 day positive. You are dealing with 4 different adults in your sailing party. No one can predict what will happen with all four people.  Call MSC or your travel agent, whichever you booked the cruise with, and discuss your options for moving to a different date. All the best! 

[Manchestergirl1972]

I called MSC as we were worried about the same thing. My husband had covid over Christmas and we were worried about a false positive pcr. MSC and our agent both told me I had up to 15 days before departure to change. If I left it after that and could not travel due to positive pcr I would not be refunded by MSC and my only recompense would be from my travel insurance.  I called my insurance and they have confirmed they will fully refund us if he tests positive.  We are due to sail out of Barbados on the 8th Feb, we did not change the sailing as we got the deal of a lifetime and the prices have massively increased.  We are going to take our chances and cross our fingers for a negative test.  It’s really annoying that MSC will not accept a certificate of recovery with a positive test as BA and Barbados will.  Good luck with your plans either way!

[FrostyJoe]

1 hour ago, Manchestergirl1972 said:

I called MSC as we were worried about the same thing. My husband had covid over Christmas and we were worried about a false positive pcr. MSC and our agent both told me I had up to 15 days before departure to change. If I left it after that and could not travel due to positive pcr I would not be refunded by MSC and my only recompense would be from my travel insurance.  I called my insurance and they have confirmed they will fully refund us if he tests positive.  We are due to sail out of Barbados on the 8th Feb, we did not change the sailing as we got the deal of a lifetime and the prices have massively increased.  We are going to take our chances and cross our fingers for a negative test.  It’s really annoying that MSC will not accept a certificate of recovery with a positive test as BA and Barbados will.  Good luck with your plans either way!

Why don't you go get a test now to see if you'll test positive--will give you more time to start documentation/claims process for insurance.  If both of you test negative---as do the aussies say: No worries mate!

[Manchestergirl1972]

Hi Frosy Joe, luckily I was negative all the way through. My husband got a pcr a week ago and it was negative, I just hope we are both negative when we get our tests on Sunday….got everything crossed🤣

[FrostyJoe]

1 minute ago, Manchestergirl1972 said:

Hi Frosy Joe, luckily I was negative all the way through. My husband got a pcr a week ago and it was negative, I just hope we are both negative when we get our tests on Sunday….got everything crossed🤣

Ahhh...well unless Omicron plus alpha to zeta spreads even faster than the original omicron, you're probably good to go!!!!  2/7 isn't that far away for the Omicron plus alpha to zeta variant to take footing 🙃

[acecase2021]

Spoke to MSC on the phone and they were very understanding and moved our cruise to the first week of March with no extra cost (website was advertising the same prices as we had paid for sailings in early March) Luckily was able to amend all of our other transport and hotels fee free too, so all in all it was a good outcome. Hopefully we should all be well clear of Covid in another month's time! 

[acecase2021]

6 hours ago, Manchestergirl1972 said:

I called MSC as we were worried about the same thing. My husband had covid over Christmas and we were worried about a false positive pcr. MSC and our agent both told me I had up to 15 days before departure to change. If I left it after that and could not travel due to positive pcr I would not be refunded by MSC and my only recompense would be from my travel insurance.  I called my insurance and they have confirmed they will fully refund us if he tests positive.  We are due to sail out of Barbados on the 8th Feb, we did not change the sailing as we got the deal of a lifetime and the prices have massively increased.  We are going to take our chances and cross our fingers for a negative test.  It’s really annoying that MSC will not accept a certificate of recovery with a positive test as BA and Barbados will.  Good luck with your plans either way!

Good luck for your cruise, I think you will be fine for your PCRs. I'm an ICU nurse and you'd be surprised at how many symptomatic Covid patients we cared for who had Covid typical x-rays, oxygen saturations and bloods, but we couldn't get a positive PCR on them no matter how many times we swabbed (though this was in the first wave when the viral loads were lower and the virus seemed to prefer the lungs over the upper airways like Omicron prefers!) But nonetheless, several weeks after your husband's infection I'm sure your PCR will come back negative. 

 

[acecase2021]

8 hours ago, adam7392 said:

We fly to Dubai in 11 days and have our PCR test in 10 days.  We both had covid over Xmas/New Year and therefore potentially our PCR test may come out positive.  If I was you I'd look to delay as long as possible if your destination and/or the cruise line require a PCR.

Good luck for your tests, will keep my fingers crossed for you! I think you'll be fine, I think it's not that common for people to experience a positive PCR weeks after their infection, it just makes a more interesting story when this has happened so we perhaps find more information about it when searching? That's my theory anyway! 

[FrostyJoe]

1 hour ago, acecase2021 said:

Good luck for your cruise, I think you will be fine for your PCRs. I'm an ICU nurse and you'd be surprised at how many symptomatic Covid patients we cared for who had Covid typical x-rays, oxygen saturations and bloods, but we couldn't get a positive PCR on them no matter how many times we swabbed (though this was in the first wave when the viral loads were lower and the virus seemed to prefer the lungs over the upper airways like Omicron prefers!) But nonetheless, several weeks after your husband's infection I'm sure your PCR will come back negative. 

 

Thank you for your service. I can’t imagine working in an ICU now…

 

Out of curiosity, what country do you work at?  And do you do the throat swab first before the Nasal/brain swab? I’ve read Israelis are doing that already….theory on omicron having a higher load on throat ga other variants. 
 

I don’t believe it’s an approved use in the US for either PCR or the lateral flow/antigen. But I do it for giggles (throat first then nasal) when I do it at home...

 

On another note, perhaps the patients are infected with a new variant that PCR isn't detecting--my understanding is PCR is very specific and sensitive so long as the lab has the right whatever sequence for that variant of covid.....vs lateral flows/antigens detecting whatever protein and even non-covid infections sometimse

Edited February 1, 2022 by FrostyJoe

[Fogfog]

I expect you can move it successfully.

know for a fact from an officer onboard that for the sailing before the one we are on…50 folks tested pos and we’re turned away at the terminal.

MSC takes this seriously.

 

Masks are enforced when walking around ship or in theaters etc.

 

 

[Av8tor]

7 hours ago, acecase2021 said:

Spoke to MSC on the phone and they were very understanding and moved our cruise to the first week of March with no extra cost (website was advertising the same prices as we had paid for sailings in early March) Luckily was able to amend all of our other transport and hotels fee free too, so all in all it was a good outcome. Hopefully we should all be well clear of Covid in another month's time! 

Don't forget to contact your travel insurance provider and have them revise your planned dates of travel

[acecase2021]

11 hours ago, FrostyJoe said:

Thank you for your service. I can’t imagine working in an ICU now…

 

Out of curiosity, what country do you work at?  And do you do the throat swab first before the Nasal/brain swab? I’ve read Israelis are doing that already….theory on omicron having a higher load on throat ga other variants. 
 

I don’t believe it’s an approved use in the US for either PCR or the lateral flow/antigen. But I do it for giggles (throat first then nasal) when I do it at home...

 

On another note, perhaps the patients are infected with a new variant that PCR isn't detecting--my understanding is PCR is very specific and sensitive so long as the lab has the right whatever sequence for that variant of covid.....vs lateral flows/antigens detecting whatever protein and even non-covid infections sometimse

I work in the UK. Yes, in hospital we swab tonsils first and then a decent way back in both nasal passages to reach the turbinates (all using the same swab). I'm not experienced in microbiology but my understanding is that all variants of Covid-19 can be discovered with the PCR test. Subsequent sequencing to identify the variant is a different process which isn't typically completed, so in the hospital we wouldn't know which variant a patient has unless the medics order a separate test.

[acecase2021]

7 hours ago, Av8tor said:

Don't forget to contact your travel insurance provider and have them revise your planned dates of travel

We have an annual policy so I think we are just covered for any trips within our year cover period. 

[FrostyJoe]

58 minutes ago, acecase2021 said:

I'm not experienced in microbiology but my understanding is that all variants of Covid-19 can be discovered with the PCR test. .

By no means am I experienced in microbiology either.  But the little I know/my understanding is yes, all known variants can be detected by PCR.  But the lab needs to know the genome or dna or whatever they look at for the specific variants before the PCR will catch a positive.

 

I have a feeling the non-positive patients you had had some sort of mutated virus.  If you're able to, I'd be interested if you can see if you can get a positive on a lateral/antigen test--since the little I know about those test is that it just looks for protein markers of covid--which doesn't mutate/change as much as the gene/other markers that PCR tests look for.  Put it simply, my understanding is that while antigen isn't as specific nor sensitive as PCR test, it may be more "future proof" in its ability to detect future variants since labs for PCRs are always playing catch up....

[acecase2021]

22 hours ago, FrostyJoe said:

By no means am I experienced in microbiology either.  But the little I know/my understanding is yes, all known variants can be detected by PCR.  But the lab needs to know the genome or dna or whatever they look at for the specific variants before the PCR will catch a positive.

 

I have a feeling the non-positive patients you had had some sort of mutated virus.  If you're able to, I'd be interested if you can see if you can get a positive on a lateral/antigen test--since the little I know about those test is that it just looks for protein markers of covid--which doesn't mutate/change as much as the gene/other markers that PCR tests look for.  Put it simply, my understanding is that while antigen isn't as specific nor sensitive as PCR test, it may be more "future proof" in its ability to detect future variants since labs for PCRs are always playing catch up....

Yes you make an interesting point, perhaps they did have variants which was why the PCR didn't pick up the virus at the time. I've learned something from your post re microbiology!

 

These cases I was referring to were way back in the first wave and we didn't have lateral flow antigen tests back then. For these patients we had to isolate them in our very few isolation rooms to keep them away from the PCR Covid +ve patients, but also to keep them away from the other ICU patients as clinically their admission was so characteristic of Covid (apart from having a +ve PCR). Eventually we got +ve antibody blood tests on these patients to finally confirm diagnosis. 

 

We never struggle to get +ve PCRs now if clinical signs show Covid. In fact most patients seem to be surprise incidental findings of Covid who are admitted to the hospital for other major illnesses but have to be Covid isolated anyway. 

[FrostyJoe]

14 hours ago, acecase2021 said:

Yes you make an interesting point, perhaps they did have variants which was why the PCR didn't pick up the virus at the time. I've learned something from your post re microbiology!

 

These cases I was referring to were way back in the first wave and we didn't have lateral flow antigen tests back then. For these patients we had to isolate them in our very few isolation rooms to keep them away from the PCR Covid +ve patients, but also to keep them away from the other ICU patients as clinically their admission was so characteristic of Covid (apart from having a +ve PCR). Eventually we got +ve antibody blood tests on these patients to finally confirm diagnosis. 

 

We never struggle to get +ve PCRs now if clinical signs show Covid. In fact most patients seem to be surprise incidental findings of Covid who are admitted to the hospital for other major illnesses but have to be Covid isolated anyway. 

Thank you again for your service and courage from across the pond!  A lot of credit goes to the doctors but I personally believe the nursing staff, support staff, and the respiratory therapists were THE front line soldiers courageously going into this worldwide war with little to no ammo and little to no protection from our common enemy— especially before vax came out.  All of us owe you a huge gratitude, reverence and respect for doing what you’ve been doing day in and night out. 
 

And I am really glad to see MSC providing the healthcare heroes discount. You are certainly heroes and I do hope for you have a good next sailing on the well deserved vacation.  Or as they say across the pond: holiday!

Edited February 3, 2022 by FrostyJoe

[acecase2021]

11 hours ago, FrostyJoe said:

Thank you again for your service and courage from across the pond!  A lot of credit goes to the doctors but I personally believe the nursing staff, support staff, and the respiratory therapists were THE front line soldiers courageously going into this worldwide war with little to no ammo and little to no protection from our common enemy— especially before vax came out.  All of us owe you a huge gratitude, reverence and respect for doing what you’ve been doing day in and night out. 
 

And I am really glad to see MSC providing the healthcare heroes discount. You are certainly heroes and I do hope for you have a good next sailing on the well deserved vacation.  Or as they say across the pond: holiday!

Thanks FrostyJoe for your kind words, we will ensure we have a lovely time!